Before class started, Xu Mumu took a moment to recognize the people in the class, roughly keeping track of them in her mind. Fortunately, with the memory of the original owner, recognizing these people was no problem at all. Xu Mumu even knew who she had minor grudges with among them.
The first class was Mr. Liu's Chinese lesson, and Xu Mumu listened quite attentively.
In class, there were only a few who could respond to the teacher. Over the years, the status of teachers hadn't been very high; they were even labeled with the derogatory term "stinky bookworm." Consequently, the teachers' expectations of students weren't high either. As long as you didn't disrupt the class, you could do whatever you liked, so not many listened attentively to the lessons.
As Liu Li lectured while writing important points on the blackboard with chalk, he glanced at the students below. Today, there was an additional attentive listener, Xu Mumu.
Liu Li didn't have a great impression of Xu Mumu. She had had conflicts with a few students in the class, which he had to mediate. Xu Mumu's grades, not at the bottom, were certainly in the lower middle tier.
Today, however, Xu Mumu was surprisingly attentive, which was quite unexpected for him.
"Xu Mumu, could you explain the meaning of this poem?" Liu Li asked Xu Mumu to stand up and answer the question.
These things were something she had learned once, and despite having experienced the apocalypse, some things felt ingrained in her very bones, impossible to forget.
Xu Mumu stood up calmly, and the other students turned their attention to her. The girls who had grudges with her still shot her malicious smiles; if you got picked to answer and couldn't, it'd be quite embarrassing.
Students like them, who had average or even poor grades, hoped the teacher wouldn't pick them to answer questions. Only the ones who listened attentively would usually be picked.
Xu Mumu remained composed and briefly translated the poem.
Her voice was crisp and bright, and as she explained the meaning of the poem, everyone couldn't help but quiet down.
Xu Mumu's explanation was straightforward and easy to understand, even those who hadn't listened attentively could comprehend what she was saying.
"It seems like Xu Mumu did some homework beforehand, very well done. That's indeed the meaning of the poem, good job, sit down," Liu Li was quite satisfied with Xu Mumu's answer.
Xu Mumu sat down calmly, as if the admiring gaze of her seatmate, Xue Yan, didn't exist at all.
The class didn't seem that long, and as the bell rang, Mr. Liu paused his lecturing.
"Wow, Mumu, you're amazing! You actually reviewed ahead of time." As soon as class was over, Xue Yan looked at Xu Mumu excitedly.
"It's just a right answer this time, a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat." A delicate girl glanced at the two of them arrogantly. She sat two rows in front of them; this girl was Xiao Mengqin, who had a past dispute with Xu Mumu.
Because the boy Xiao Mengqin liked confessed to Xu Mumu, only to be rejected, Xiao Mengqin hadn't been able to see Xu Mumu eye-to-eye since then and would occasionally jab at her.
"Exactly, maybe this time she just happened to know it, nothing to be proud of," Li Yulan from Xiao Mengqin's small group added.
"So what? If it were you guys, you wouldn't know the answer," Xue Yan retorted unhappily looking at Xiao Mengqin, motivated by her friendship of mutual homework copying with Xu Mumu and their promised lunch date over candied chestnuts. Xue Yan couldn't help but stand up for Xu Mumu.
"Forget it, Xue Yan," Xu Mumu said helplessly; to her, these small disputes among girls seemed really childish and weren't worth fighting over.
"Pfft, feeling guilty?" Seeing Xu Mumu stand up to persuade Xue Yan, Xiao Mengqin immediately felt that Xu Mumu was just putting on airs and started mocking her.
"What do I have to feel guilty about? The midterms are in just a month, we'll go straight to looking at the grades then," Xu Mumu looked back at Xiao Mengqin.
Xiao Mengqin's grades were slightly better than Xu Mumu's, placing her in the upper middle tier. Besides, Xiao Mengqin's family conditions were pretty good, with new clothes now and then. All these factors allowed her to keep Xu Mumu in check, as Xu Mumu had nothing over her, except perhaps looking slightly better.
"Yeah, Mumu will definitely surpass you then," Xue Yan confidently supported her.
Xu Mumu: "....." This sister's brain has surely got issues, fueling the fire here, making Xu Mumu terribly headache.
"Surpass me? Who, you?" Xiao Mengqin sneered, as if she heard a funny joke.
"Alright then, let's have a competition," Xu Mumu said calmly.
"Compete, then! Whoever loses can sit all the way in the back row," Xiao Mengqin's eyes scanned the classroom, landing on a few seats at the far back.
"Fine," Xu Mumu agreed with a smile; it was just an unimportant bet, nothing harmful in agreeing.
The bet between the two was thus settled, and Xu Mumu turned to Xue Yan, "Xue Yan, don't do that next time."
"I understand," Xue Yan shrank a bit, finding Xu Mumu's gaze pretty intimidating.
Though agitated by Xue Yan into taking the bet, it wasn't a big deal, but she still disliked others meddling in her business.
By noon, Xu Mumu divided half of her candied chestnuts with Xue Yan, and they headed to the cafeteria together.
Xue Yan's bag had 2 yuan in it, which her grandma had given her as her allowance for the week.
With two yuan, she could still have leftover money after eating at school for lunch.
Xu Mumu simply chose some straightforward dishes; without any meat coupons, she couldn't eat meat even if she wanted to.
However, Xue Yan got some twice-cooked pork and shared a bit with Xu Mumu.
"Thanks," Xu Mumu said, a bit embarrassed; being too poor wasn't too great either.
"No worries, you gave me candied chestnuts, so it's nothing," Xue Yan said cheerfully, having completely forgotten all prior unhappiness.
The cafeteria served white rice, and compared to home-cooked meals, it was much better. Xu Mumu ate with great joy.
There was a sports class in the afternoon. Xu Mumu thought they'd be doing some sports activities, but after gathering, they just casually discussed some safety issues before allowing free activities.
Xu Mumu was all ready for running or such activities, but they ended up doing nothing.
The boys directly went to the equipment room to grab some basketballs to play. Among the girls, some leisurely strolled on the playground, while others simply returned to the classroom.